Buffalo City Municipality’s (BCM) was on Wednesday ordered by the East London High Court to stop the sale of a prime piece of land in Nahoon Mouth by private treaty in what could be a precedent-setting ruling, writes Babalo Ndenze.
High Court Judge Elna Revelas set aside the city’s decision to sell the land to Mdantsane businessman Khaya Jekwa.
The term “private treaty” deal in which a piece of land or property is sold by one party, in this case the municipality, to another without the help of an auction.
Last year residents opposed the sale of the land after council approved the sale of the 5450m² plot to Jekwa at a cost of R3.5million, despite objections.
Jekwa had planned to build seven townhouses on the site opposite the old Dolphin Hotel near Nahoon Mouth.
The court ruled that the councils decision was “invalid”.
Lawyer Ashley Kretzmann representing Nahoon residents David Fish, Johan and Mimette Oosthuizen and Roelof Steyn said the municipality had taken a decision in October 2008 to close, rezone, subdivide and sell the land by private treaty.
“The effect of the court order is that the council’s decision to sell the land by private treaty is set aside and is invalid,” said Kretzmann.
He added however that the ruling was not a “binding precedent”, but showed that the municipality “must be extremely careful in the way they approach a similar matter”.
“They should put things out to public tender,” said Kretzmann.
Nahoon residents who opposed the sale felt felt relieved that the case had come to an end.
Residents wanted the land to remain public open space, fearing sponsors would pull out of events like the Surfers’ Marathon and National Surf Lifesaving Competition if there wasn’t sufficient parking.
“It’s nice to see that rule of law applies in this town still. It’s very encouraging to see that people can’t just do whatever they feel because they’re councillors.
“The people that voted (for the sale) should be named and shamed and they must pay the costs not the ratepayers. I hope it sets a precedent on other land give aways to friends,” said resident David Fish who led the court application.
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GO DAVE GO !!! YOU STAR
Now can you srt out the sewer outfall/pump issue.
Sanity Prevails!
Sanity should have prevailed a long time ago if councillors had heeded my advise.
You cannot in a country where certain race groups were barred from land purchase, have a system whereby the rich continue to purchase land for commercial enterprises.
Even the private treaty system have to be scrapped due to the fact that such decisions are made in camera, thereby denying the populace the principle of public participation.
It is high time that a Scopa-like structure is set up in order to monitor financial decisions made by council and mayoral committees, and its impact financially or otherwise on the citizens and i would like Gov. to consider this proposal.
Mayhaps sanity will than become a permanent part of decision-making
Go Fishman. I will give you two waves at the reef for all your efforts and expect others to do the same
Patrick, your argument that “you cannot in a country where certain race groups were barred from land purchase, have a system whereby the rich continue to purchase land for commercial enterprises” is exactly the argument that the councillors used to justify selling it to a PDI individual by private treaty. But you all miss the point: a public asset, if it is to be sold, must get the best possible return. It is owned by the people, and the people’s interests are best served through gaining a maximum return on their assets. This return can be financial (sale or lease) or otherwise (social etc), but you are not permitted to give away the public’s assets to your cronies. This is exactly what happened in this case.
The area in question is not a recreational area, so the arguments put forward by some residents are red herrings. They just didn’t want their view obstructed. But that doesn’t change the fact that the sale was irregular and unlawful – not the only procurement schlenter that happened on the watch of the disgraced ex-Municipal Manager, as has previously been proven in court.
Opstoker,
We are basically putting forward the same argument, with different nuances. My premise is that the council were wrong in selling this land per private treaty to a rich person, please note that i do not use racial terms since in the new SA the rich is no more the exclusive enclave of a certain race group, but should rather have afford the populace the opportunity to voice their ideas on how best to itilise the land, bearing in mind the social needs of our city.
I think you also missed my suggestion of the creation of a Scopa-like structure to have political oversight over the workings of municipalities in the same manner that Scopa at Legislature and Parliamentary level operates in tandem with the Attorney- General.
Such a system will contribute in a big way to clear up shenanigans by municpalities because at the moment they are only accountable to Mayoral committees without the neccessary research expertise to fully interrogate the different directorates of a municipality.
I hope that this proposal will be carried forward by more people in order to keep errant managers in check and accountable.
Opstoker,
Thanks for also identifying the hypocricy of the residents adjacent to the land.
Their smokescreen has been swallowed by the DD, but not by some of the more enlightened bloggers.
NB. No compliment intended.
Patrick. I agree with the broad principle of what you say, but I don’t think there is a need for a SCOPA-like body. There is simply a need for things being done correctly. There are already too many “bodies” cluttering up the system. That, in itself, is a problem.
As for you & Opstoker taking a dig at the residents (I live in Cambridge, so not guilty), I respectfully suggest that is a different issue. A major resaon that so much corruption and irregularity prevail is because people spend too much time making snide comments and scoring little personal points.
And as a regular Surfer’s entrant, I agree with their story re parking.
Onsite Now
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